Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-06-19

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"uiuSnse quantity Of goods Of every con.
o'Naoie description requires q large
Ups oi clerks and assistants and an
amy OF labOrerS, making payroll OF
"UOut 600 men, with a weekly payment
"' several thousand dollars. Every
ulihg works with wonderful system aud
regularity, tho whole business being
"hdef the supervision OF the general
freight and claim agent, p. II. Adams,
Esq The railroad officials evidently
expect an enormous increase Of gene
fai business at an early day, as there
Weto he seen many mechanics busily
engaged IN repairing, adding to, over
hauling, and building new wharyes.
a prominent railroad official told
|onr correspondent that the company
would have TO build ut an carly day as
many more wharyes as they have at
/ present 20 enable them to handle their
increasing freight. Said he; "You
know The Richmond and Danvi.le sys-
tenn have acquired the control OF the
asst tennessee line and Georgia sys-
tom, which viii cause an increase of
business through this port involving
the employment of large additional
force 20 handle this extra business. Al
! ready froights over these roads are being
diverted to this port, and in a year or
| 50 the bulk Of It's landings Will reach
| here" The reader should bear in mind
! that Memphis alone ships 800. 600 bales
Of cotton. and through this new acqui-
sion this port will DO its fair share of
Memphis business \ single glance at
! The map Of the ueWly-acqulrcd terri
tory of the Richmond and Danvlle sys-
tom VIII convince any one that the
business done through West Point must
hc more Chan doubled
CoTToN. AGAIN.
In former years the whole cotton
trade Of the East tennessee and Georgia
system found its way TO the outside
world over the Norfolk and Western
road through the port of Norfolk. and
nothing has added more to the material
wealth and growth OF Norfolk since the
cose of the war than her cotton-ship-
| ping interest Each vessel that loads
with cotton at port necessarily spends
| large amount of money. 4 vessel
that carries 5000 bales to q foreign
| port leaves nearly $4,000 in the
port at which She loads. 1t is
fair TO presume that the Richmond
and Danville system, which has ac-
quired control of the East Tennessee
and Georgia system. will prefer to haul
the cotton over their own road to West
! Point. On the wharf here | saw a large
number of safety switches and signal
switch stands, also a quantity of steel
tails in the yard.
IMPROVEMENTS.
On inquiry / found that all these
were intended to be used here to make
all the appointments of the yard com
| pictc. HE railroad people have
evidently not made much noise
| about these intended Improvements at
West Point, but are going quietly to
work to make it a tirst-class terminal
station, fitted to do an enormous
business. Richmond now has its OPP
Tortunity to become "A very large cot
ton market. using West Point as its
lase of orpcmtions If Richmond
| merchants 10 not take advantage of
this New York and Philadelphia mer-
chants viii, as Mcl'addcn Brothers, of
lLiladelplia, have already done.
West Point is the sixth cotton port.
| and it Is expected to- he made the third
CT fourth in asmany years.
THU COTTON COMPRESS.
4 big thing at the wharf is the $40
Geo cotton compress Of George II. Me
| Fadden X Brother of Philadelphia,
/ supcrintcudcd by Edwin Wilkinson,
| Esq, who is mayor of West Point.
/ The working of this pOnderouS ma
chinery. by which a bale of cotton is
compressed into nearly one third its
| original size, ismOst interesting. A bale !
Of cotton is placed i'll the jaws of the
compress and in a jfly is reduced two |
Thirds its original size. The press is |
worked by a cylinder ninety inches in |
| diameter. connected with a battery Of |
boilers carrying l2j pounds OF |
steam. This puts pressure of !
/ 7. 5OU tons on every bale OF cotton that |
passes through tie press. The ave
rage work OF the press is 90 bales |
! an hour. The practical utility of this /
( work j. evident Wh,nyou see d steamer I
| slowing away 5000 bale where before |
| not more than 1000 couli be- packed. !
/ Tie slmpling. weighing, unbind- |
iug, rchapeiue. rtbandng, pressing, /
moving al 90 on rapidly ut the !
amc time. This company can handle |
/ about 900 bales a day. and employ u |
| large number Of clerks and labOrers.
/ ne number of bales handled last sea-
/ son was ~, 159, OF which J2.09i bales !
were shipped to Liverpool, $3.50 bales
/ 10 Bremen. $3.50 bales 10 Client, sos
| bales TO Antwerp, 1910 bales to Russia.
| 100 bales TO Genoa, and POO bales to
domestic ports. While at this time
| there j.. only one compress IN operation,
/ appli,atio S have been made by parties
| to build others. The business brought
here by the ucwiy-acquircd road east
! Tennessee and Georgia Line viii ne
ccssitatc the erection of two or three
additional congresses within the next
one or two years.
FIIE AND POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Every precaution is taken here against
fire "a, wei az theft. There Is con-
slant patrol Of watchmen day and night
All along the WhaIves and great railroad
sheds. aud rcgularly-organized fire
department in the pay of the railroad
company. The departments provided
With water-pugs, with buckets, and
fre-oxtinguishers placed at convenient
intervals along the whole line of docks,
end the watch is SO strict that a man
with lighted cigar can never cross the
line which divides the town from the
company's grounds. This is as it should
be, and at once impresses the visitor
with a sense OF security and confidence
in the management.
HOW IT WILL BE LIGHTED.
At present West Point is lighted at
nieht by the ordinary oil-lamp, but a
move is now on foot to light it at an
carly day with electricity. The depots,
wharyes, &c, are, asyou know, already
lighted by electricity.
ARTISAN WELLS.
In days gone by West Point was
noted for its Indifferent wcll-water.